The Chapter - Us vs. Them

Share.

Las Vegas duo plant roots for a bright future.

By Jim Durig

Imitation may be a form of flattery but in rap it's more of a staple. Modern artists often rely on sampling peers and borrowing beats to make up more of their album than original compositions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But the award for shrewd mimicry goes to Las Vegas duo The Chapter, for following the organic groove that catapulted The Roots to worldwide acclaim. In fact, Roots' drummer ?uest Love introduces the album, explaining that The Chapter was chosen from 5000 acts to appear on an Okayplayer compilation.Impressive enough. But the real test comes when we get past the formalities and into some substance, revealing a set of rich, natural sounds that mostly serve to swirl around the ankles of emcee Verbal E and highlight his effortless delivery. While E touches on many of the tired rap clichés - "Life in the City" and "Soundwave Slavery" - he adds little twists that prove rehashing old ideas can be dynamic. E's clever wordplay makes the difference, like on the grind-escaping anthem "Way Out": "Every emcee's biting me, strike 'em down like lightning/ Frightening the way I be writing it to my likening/ Turn right to tighten it, verb be igniting it."As much credit goes to producer 3Sixty for his understated use of natural sounds, most impressively on the cooled out keys of "One Moment" and the mellow chimes mixed with heavy percussion on "&#Array;I Do Despise". More importantly, though, both halves of the group mesh seamlessly on Us vs. Them, most likely foreshadowing a bright musical future. Definitely Download:1. "Way Out"2. "One Moment"3. "Soundwave Slavery"